Foil bearings may be used to support rotating components of turbine engines, turbochargers, and the like. Generally, a foil bearing includes a journal mounted to the rotating component and a cylindrical top foil disposed around the journal. The journal and top foil are configured such that when the rotating component rotates at an optimum operational speed, the foil and the journal separate from each other to form an air gap. As the air gap between the foil and the journal grows, pressurized air is drawn in to serve as a lubricant to the rotating component and surrounding static components.
In the absence of the pressurized air between the journal and the top foil, the two components may come into contact with each other or with other surrounding components resulting in component wear. In addition, heat generated during operation of the foil bearing may result in component wear. Thus, to reduce wear and heat generation during operation of the foil bearing, a wear resistance system may be employed.
In one type of wear resistance system, the journal or cylindrical top foil may be coated with or made of a wear resistant material. Recently, it has been discovered that rhenium has superior wear resistant properties over other materials of this type. Although components could be made entirely of rhenium, such an option may not be available in applications in which cost may be a constraint.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a foil bearing including component parts having a wear resistant coating layer formed on contacting surfaces thereof and a method for coating the wear resistant coating layer onto the component parts. In addition, it is desirable for the method to be relatively low cost and simple to perform. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.